Chapter 30: Of the Lord’s Supper

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PARA 1 – The Institution and Purposes of the Lord’s Supper

1._____ The supper of the Lord Jesus was instituted by him the same night wherein he was betrayed, to be observed in his churches, unto the end of the world, for the perpetual remembrance, and shewing forth the sacrifice of himself in his death, confirmation of the faith of believers in all the benefits thereof, their spiritual nourishment, and growth in him, their further engagement in, and to all duties which they owe to him; and to be a bond and pledge of their communion with him, and with each other.
( 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; 1 Corinthians 10:16, 17,21 )

OUTLINE

A. Four aspects of Lord’s supper:  1. Origin & authority. 2. Timing. 3. Setting. 4. Validity.

  1. Origin and authority of Lord’s supper:  The supper of the Lord Jesus was instituted by him

Notes:  The Lord Jesus is the Originator of the Supper. He instituted it. The Supper is given to us from the hand of our very Lord Himself and His authority stands behind the injunction: ‘do this in remembrance of Me.’ The Supper is not observed on the basis of church edict or popular consensus. The Supper is to be observed because the Lord instituted it and commanded us to observe it.

2. Timing of Institution:  the same night wherein he was betrayed,

Notes:  These words anchor this ordinance to the historical Jesus and historical continuity between the Supper and the Passover, the setting for the institution of the Supper. The wording of the Confession follows 1 Cor 11:23 that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread. On the eve of Jesus’ death, He gives this charge: Do this in remembrance of Me.

3. Setting of observance.    to be observed in his churches

Notes:  The Confession envisions local churches gathered and engaged in the Supper. The Supper is a church ordinance to be observed by the church. The church is responsible to implement the command of Christ and to regulate the observance of the Supper: to explain why the Supper is observed, how it is to be observed, who is to observe it and how often it is to be observed.

4. Validity of Lord’s supper.   unto the end of the world,

Notes:  The Supper is to characterize the worship of the church unto the end of the world. This “means of grace” is designed to nourish the faith of the body of Christ until Christ Himself bodily returns. The Church is to sustain her fellowship with Christ at the Table until the Second Coming of Christ.

B. Six Purposes of Lord’s Supper

  1. for the perpetual remembrance.  The Supper is a commemoration.

When the Passover was established, the Israelites were told to memorialize the event in the Passover meal and thus to bring each succeeding generation to ritually participate in that redemption and to then define themselves in terms of that redemption   The Supper is a commemoration. The Supper points to the historical sacrificial work of Jesus Christ on the cross which is commemorated in the Table. “Remembering” to us usually means calling to mind a past event. 

Biblical idea of “remembering” is far richer and involves, not only an acknowledgment of the historical validity of the event, but includes an affirmation of one’s personal present participation in that event so as to view oneself in terms of that event. By “remembering”, one enters into the ongoing, present significance of that past event. The Supper gives us tokens, symbols of Christ and reminds us of our union with Him. The Supper is more like a wedding ring than a tombstone. Both are reminders of a loved one, but the wedding ring reminds us of the present relationship we have with our spouse, whereas the tombstone reminds us of a past relationship with a now absent loved one.  At the Table, I take the tokens of Jesus’ body and blood, the symbols of our covenant relationship, and I experience His love revealed in the cross and presently communicated from His throne by the Spirit, and my hope is stimulated as I eagerly await His return.

For Passover, “Each Jew who celebrated the Passover became himself a participant in the Exodus event. The Mishnah said: ‘In every generation a man must so regard himself as if he came forth himself from Egypt’ .  Thus, instead of simply calling the past to mind, the past was brought into the present and its benefits made operative.”

By truly “remembering”, we are continually aligned with the central redemptive act in which the true and living God revealed Himself as our Savior.  “Remembering” sustains us in our ongoing obedience to the first commandment. It is interesting to see how the Lord warns Israel against “forgetting” in Ps 106:7,13, 21 because “forgetting” is a step toward idolatry.  The Lord’s Table is an occasion for us to remember Jesus and His gospel

2. shewing forth the sacrifice of himself in his death, 

The Supper is a proclamation.  We demonstrate and declare that the death of Jesus was the full and final sacrifice of Himself. We define His death as a sacrifice. He did not die the death of a martyr, but He died as the Lamb of God, as our Passover, as the completion of the Old Covenant ceremonial system. At the Supper, we declare and define the death of Jesus as the one supreme sacrifice by which the wrath of our holy and just God is propitiated and by which our sins are atoned. By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified (Heb 10:10-14). At the Supper, we shew forth this final perfect sacrifice.

3. confirmation of the faith of believers in all the benefits thereof,

The third purpose concerns the nourishment of the faith of the believers who observe the Supper.   The Supper is a confirmation, a testimony of Christ given through the church which confirms the faith of believers and encourages them to receive and live in all the benefits of the redemptive work of Christ accomplished on their behalf. At the Table I am right to recall all that Christ has obtained for me: justification, adoption, the gift of the Holy Spirit who presently works to sanctify me, all the means of grace by which communion with Christ and His people is sustained, and the hope of all that is promised and yet to be fulfilled at the resurrection and in the world to come.

4. their spiritual nourishment, and growth in him,

Lord’s supper is  a “means of grace” designed for their spiritual nourishment, and growth in Him. At the Supper, faith feeds upon Christ Himself and Christ nourishes His flock.  Such a feeding presupposes the living presence of Christ with us at the Supper so that the realities of which Jesus taught in John 6 are actually experienced as we exercise vital faith in Christ while observing the Supper with Christ.  Thus the Supper promotes growth in Him – in Christ Himself. The church thus grows as a living temple, as a living body, and believers grow as branches vitally joined to Jesus the vine. The Supper serves to stimulate our union with Christ which is the very essence of our salvation.

5. their further engagement in, and to all duties which they owe to him;

Fifth purpose of the Supper is to stimulate their further engagement in, and to all duties which they owe to Him.  The faith that is nourished is a living faith, evidenced by the fruit of evangelical obedience to God’s Law. The supper invigorates the believer. The Christian rises from the Table energized and eager to do something for Christ: to obey Him more vigorously in every stewardship and assigned sphere of responsibility. The well nourished believer seeks to obey God in his private walk as a disciple, in his family, his church, his labors, and his engagement with others in the world. As we learn to live in Christ, we yearn to live for Christ.

6. and to be a bond and pledge of their communion with him, and with each other.

Sixth and the final purpose stated in the first paragraph underscores the covenantal character of the Supper.  It is to be a bond and pledge of their communion with Him, and with each other. The Supper is a covenant meal. Those who eat and drink do so in covenant relationship with Christ and with the body of Christ, the church.

The covenant meal pulls us out of ourselves and connects us to the honor of Christ and the good of the church.  As I eat the supper, I am not only alone with Christ, but I am a member of the community of Christ. I will not grow as a Christian nor in communion with Christ apart from being vitally joined with my fellow believers in the local church. 1 Cor 10:17 Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread. The faith which is nourished by the Supper is not only my personal faith, but the corporate faith of the church. I am individually strengthened so that I can stimulate growth in the body of Christ, the church.

PARA – 2 – A Clarification on the Nature of the Lord’s Supper… what is not a communion

2._____ In this ordinance Christ is not offered up to his Father, nor any real sacrifice made at all for remission of sin of the quick or dead, but only a memorial of that one offering up of himself by himself upon the cross, once for all; and a spiritual oblation of all possible praise unto God for the same. So that the popish sacrifice of the mass, as they call it, is most abominable, injurious to Christ’s own sacrifice the alone propitiation for all the sins of the elect.
( Hebrews 9:25, 26, 28; 1 Corinthians 11:24; Matthew 26:26, 27 )

OUTLINE

  1. What does not happen in communion?
    • Christ is not offered up to his Father,
    • nor any real sacrifice made at all for remission of sin of the quick or dead

This paragraph is a refutation of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. The Confession denies that Christ is re-sacrificed by the Church nor is there any remission of sin extended by the Supper to those who are dead, that is in so-called “purgatory”. 

2. Supper is only a memorial

  • of that one offering up of himself by himself upon the cross,
  • once for all; and
  • a spiritual oblation of all possible praise unto God for the same

By stating that the Supper is only a memorial, the writers would recall all that was confessed in the first paragraph regarding the meaning and purpose of the Supper. The word only is used to deny the Roman Catholic teaching of the Mass.

Supper falls under the category of “spiritual worship” and is a spiritual oblation – that is, a thank offering (hence “Eucharist”) by which the church expresses thanks to God for our union with Jesus Christ.  As we remember the Lord’s death until He comes, we give God sacrifices of praise and thanks as expressions of enjoying fellowship with Him.

This paragraph stands against the tendency throughout the history of the church to view the Supper as an offering of the church given to God, rather than as a communication of grace given to the church by Christ. 

3. Condemnation of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church

  • So that the popish sacrifice of the mass, as they call it, is most abominable, injurious to Christ’s own sacrifice the alone propitiation for all the sins of the elect.

To define the supper as being effectual in itself ( by outward acts) regardless of the internal faith of the participant is to destroy the sole sufficiency and efficacy of the one final sacrifice of Christ of Himself on the cross.   The Confession employs strong language to refute this heretical doctrine: it is most abominable. 

PARA 3 – Method of Observance of the Lord’s Supper

3._____ The Lord Jesus hath, in this ordinance, appointed his ministers to pray, and bless the elements of bread and wine, and thereby to set them apart from a common to a holy use, and to take and break the bread; to take the cup, and, they communicating also themselves, to give both to the communicants.
( 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, etc. )

OUTLINE

  1. Who should administer the supper –
    1. The Lord Jesus hath, in this ordinance, appointed his ministers – Recognized leaders in the church should lead the church in the observance of the Supper.
  2. How should it be administered
    • Pray, and
    • bless the elements of bread and wine, and
    • thereby to set them apart from a common to a holy use, and
    • to take and break the bread; to take the cup, and, they communicating also themselves, to give both to the communicants.

By prayer, the minister sets the elements of bread and wine apart for use in this sacred Supper. Both those elements are then to be consumed by both the pastors and the people.

PARA 4 – Denying or worshiping the elements are unbiblical

4._____ The denial of the cup to the people, worshipping the elements, the lifting them up, or carrying them about for adoration, and reserving them for any pretended religious use, are all contrary to the nature of this ordinance, and to the institution of Christ.  ( Matthew 26:26-28; Matthew 15:9; Exodus 20:4, 5 )

OUTLINE

Roman Catholic unbiblical practices of Mass  

  1. The denial of the cup to the people,
  2. worshipping the elements,
  3. the lifting them up, or
  4. carrying them about for adoration, and
  5. reserving them for any pretended religious use, are all contrary to the nature of this ordinance, and to the institution of Christ. 

In RC Mass worship is directed to the elements as though, by transubstantiation, there actually were Christ Himself. The pageantry and sensuality of Roman Catholic worship is likewise denounced as being inherently unbiblical and, in fact, disobedient to the institution of Christ.

PARA 5 – The Elements of the Lord’s Supper

5._____ The outward elements in this ordinance, duly set apart to the use ordained by Christ, have such relation to him crucified, as that truly, although in terms used figuratively, they are sometimes called by the names of the things they represent, to wit, the body and blood of Christ, albeit, in substance and nature, they still remain truly and only bread and wine, as they were before.
( 1 Corinthians 11:27; 1 Corinthians 11:26-28 )

Notes:  Nature of the relationship that the consecrated elements have with Christ Himself is so intimate that the elements, although they ever remain in substance and nature truly and only bread and wine, that they can be called by the names of the things they represent. The bread, although in substance and nature bread, can be called the body of Christ.  And the wine, although in substance and nature wine, can be called the blood of Christ.  To call the elements the things which they represent is to use the terms figuratively, or metaphorically.

By calling the elements the body and blood of Christ, the church does not change the elements into the body and blood of Christ. The relationship of the elements to Christ in the believer’s observance of the Supper is such (a) relation to Him crucified, as that truly. In other words, there is a true, real, spiritual relationship between the elements and the crucified Lord. How we define “truly” depends on how comfortable we are with the genuine mystery which is transpiring in the Supper.

We reject the idolatrous “mystery” taught by transubstantiation and consubstantiation that identifies the elements as the actual body and blood of Christ. Our Confession states that after the consecration of the elements in the Supper, they still remain truly and only bread and wine, as they were before. On the other hand, to view the elements as mere symbols of Jesus’ body and blood without recognizing some relationship between the elements and the person of Jesus is also inadequate.

 As symbols employed in this Christ instituted ordinance observed by true believers who are spiritually joined to Christ and gathered in His presence, what then is their relation to Him crucified? The Confession answers: such relation to Him crucified, as that truly. There is a true, real, actual relation of the elements to Christ. Without envisioning any change to the elements themselves, they mysteriously serve to effect, by the Spirit, genuine spiritual union with Christ in those who are already savingly joined by faith to Christ.

In other words, the elements of the Supper are an effectual means of grace to those who receive them by faith, to those who are truly united to Christ and His body, the church. At the Supper, we are brought to have genuine, spiritual fellowship with the exalted Lamb of God and, by faith, we feed upon Him. 1 Cor 10:16 Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? In the context of 1 Cor 10, Paul would have us understand that the elements in the Supper have a relation to Christ which is analogous to the relation that the Old Covenant sacrificial meal had to the sacrifice from which the meal was derived. By eating of that sacrifice, the worshipper entered into the benefits of that sacrifice and participated in the covenantal worship given to the Lord.

PARA 6 – Condemnation of Roman Catholicism’s doctrine of transubstantiation

6._____ That doctrine which maintains a change of the substance of bread and wine, into the substance of Christ’s body and blood, commonly called transubstantiation, by consecration of a priest, or by any other way, is repugnant not to Scripture alone, but even to common sense and reason, overthroweth the nature of the ordinance, and hath been, and is, the cause of manifold superstitions, yea, of gross idolatries.
( Acts 3:21; Luke 14:6, 39; 1 Corinthians 11:24, 25 )

Doctrine of transubstantiation as being a flagrant violation of Scripture and of common sense. It asserts that Rome’s practice of the Mass also violates the very purpose of Christ for the Supper and instead promotes manifold superstitions, yea, gross idolatries.

PARA 7 – Worthy Participants

7._____ Worthy receivers, outwardly partaking of the visible elements in this ordinance, do then also inwardly by faith, really and indeed, yet not carnally and corporally, but spiritually receive, and feed upon Christ crucified, and all the benefits of his death; the body and blood of Christ being then not corporally or carnally, but spiritually present to the faith of believers in that ordinance, as the elements themselves are to their outward senses.
( 1 Corinthians 10:16; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 )

OUTLINE

Since the Supper is a church ordinance, a worthy receiver would be a Christian who is in good standing as a member of the local church.   

Worthy receivers act in communion

  • outwardly partaking of the visible elements in this ordinance,
  • do then also inwardly by faith, really and indeed,
  • yet not carnally and corporally,
  • but spiritually receive, and feed upon Christ crucified, and
  • all the benefits of his death;

Presence of Christ in communion

  • the body and blood of Christ being then not corporally or carnally,
  • but spiritually present to the faith of believers in that ordinance,
  • as the elements themselves are to their outward senses.

Notes: Paragraph 7 considers what transpires at the Table inwardly by faith for those who rightly participate in the Supper. Once again we are confronted with genuine mystery, with spiritual reality: really and indeed. The Confession asserts that there is a real spiritual reception of and feeding by faith upon Christ crucified. The Holy Spirit brings the believing participant in the Supper into real and actual union with Christ crucified; with that sacrifice offered on our behalf at Calvary, with that Lamb standing, as if slain (Rev 5:6) who is now enthroned in glory. This engagement with Christ is not localized in the elements. Our communion with Christ is not carnally or corporally, not physical, chemical, biological – but spiritually actualized by the Holy Spirit. The body and blood of Christ being spiritually present to the faith of believers in that ordinance.

The focus of the Supper is the very body and blood of Christ Himself who is made present to faith every bit as much as the elements are present to our outward senses. As we eat and drink at the Supper, the Spirit, in ways known only to Him, effects real communion with Jesus Himself! He enables us, by faith, to actually obey and experience Jn 6:53-56 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.  

The worthy receiver also really and indeed receives all the benefits of His death. I submit to you that this means more than that we merely recall the doctrines of justification and adoption, for example, while observing the Supper. But at the Table, in the presence of Christ and by the ministry of the Spirit, we experience the benefits, enjoy the benefits, of Christ’s death. At the Table, we do not only understand that we are forgiven, we experience the forgiveness of Christ. We do not only understand that we are adopted sons, we experience the love of the Father as sons. Hence the reality of mystery – a reality which is better experienced than explained.   John Calvin, Institutes, 4.17.7, states: “Although my mind can think beyond what my tongue can utter, yet even my mind is conquered and overwhelmed by the greatness of the thing. Therefore, nothing remains but to break forth in wonder at the mystery, which plainly neither the mind is able to conceive nor the tongue to express.”

If there is a “transubstantiation” of some kind occurring at the Supper, it occurs as the believer is transformed into conformity to Christ. The preached Word instructs the believer so that he can understand the doctrine of adoption, for example.   At the Table, he then experiences being loved as a son. He then leaves public worship informed and fortified to now live as a son of God. The change that occurs at the Table is not in the bread and the wine, but in the believer.

PARA 8 – Unworthy Participants

8._____ All ignorant and ungodly persons, as they are unfit to enjoy communion with Christ,
so are they unworthy of the Lord’s table, and cannot, without great sin against
him, while they remain such, partake of these holy mysteries, or be admitted
thereunto; yea, whosoever shall receive unworthily, are guilty of the body and
blood of the Lord, eating and drinking judgment to themselves.
( 2 Corinthians 6:14, 15; 1 Corinthians 11:29; Matthew 7:6 )

OUTLINE

Unworthy participants forbidden

  1. All ignorant and ungodly persons,

Reasons for prohibition

  1. as they are unfit to enjoy communion with Christ, so are they unworthy of the Lord’s table, and
  2. cannot, without great sin against him, while they remain such, partake of these holy mysteries, or be admitted thereunto;
  3. yea, whosoever shall receive unworthily, are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, eating and drinking judgment to themselves.

Notes:

This chapter ends on a note of warning in an effort to prohibit all ignorant and ungodly persons from participating in the Supper. People who are yet outside of Christ are unfit to enjoy communion with Christ, and so they are unworthy of the Lord’s Table. Since they are not united by faith to Christ, they cannot partake of these holy mysteries, nor experience communion with Him with whom they are not savingly united.

If such unworthy people partake of the Supper, they sin against Him, that is Christ. They violate Him, thinking that they might somehow obtain the benefits of His salvation without being saved by Him, without actually knowing Him by true faith and repentance, without being His disciple.

When such unbelieving and unworthy ones do eat of the Supper, they incur the guilt of the body and blood of the Lord, eating and drinking judgment to themselves. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord (1 Cor 11:27).

Certainly these are frightening words which ought to make us zealous to protect the Table from careless abuse. We do not want to see Christ sinned against at His own Table, nor do we want to see the ignorant and ungodly brought under judgment. What is it to be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord? Could it mean to incur the same guilt as those who actually crucified Christ?

Could it be a violation of the third commandment which prohibits the taking of the name of the Lord in vain and has attached to it the threat for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain (Ex 20:7)?    

In 1 Cor 11:28-32, Paul cites events in Corinth that evidenced God’s discipline on believers and His judgment on unbelievers, for their abuse of the Supper. Jesus disciplines His church for disobedience at the Table and removes those who should not be admitted to the Table. The Supper cannot be taken lightly because Jesus does not take the Supper lightly.    

Is our view of the Table as serious as Jesus’? The Confession says that these unworthy ones ought not to be admitted thereunto. In other words, the church, and especially the pastors, has the responsibility of safeguarding the Table and establishing policy whereby the Table will be observed.

The witness of Scripture throughout the Old and New Testaments demonstrate that eating and drinking in the presence of God is an essential aspect of Biblical worship. Our Lord’s command to Do this in remembrance of Me was obeyed by the early church as they gathered to eat the Supper and to exercise their spiritual gifts as a body in His presence, vitally united to Him. The Supper is a means of grace that not only brings us into spiritual union with the Christ of the cross, but also with the Christ of the throne, as our worship is accepted in the heavenly temple where we, by the Spirit, have fellowship with the Lamb of God who is exalted in resurrected glory.

The witness of church history informs us that we are living in a time when we could benefit from revisiting our understanding of and practice of the Lord’s Supper. Could it be that the Spirit would be pleased to make the Supper a more valued aspect of our worship and a vital component of a much longed for revival?

The witness of our Confession is that the Supper is a vital means of grace by which the people of God are strengthened in their union with Christ and by which Christ Himself is worshipped as the living Lord of His church. Many of us today are inclined to give the Table a more prominent place in the regular course of our public worship. May Jesus give us more of His Spirit who alone can make this means of grace effectual in us for our sanctification and maturation. May we frequent the Lord’s Supper and there commune with Jesus and proclaim His death until He comes (1 Cor 11:26). AMEN.

 

 

 

POLICY STATEMENT

We make a “policy statement” available to help people determine whether or not they should partake in the Supper. This statement given to our visitors.   It reads: Welcome, in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We are grateful to God for the pleasure of having you visit and worship with us. It is our desire to worship our God in spirit and truth with reverent joy.   We hope this brief explanation of our policy for participation in the Lord’s Supper will be of help to you.  Our local church practices a “Restricted Table”, not closed or open communion.

Many Evangelical Churches practice an “Open Table” policy. The Table is open to all true Christians who are present. Such churches ask that those who come to the Table be self-consciously converted and living with a good conscience before the Lord. Admission to the Table is determined by the individual believer, a practice endorsed by 1 Cor 11:28 But  let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

Other Evangelical Churches practice a “Closed Table ” policy. The Table is closed to any who are not members of that particular local church. Such churches admit only those who are members of their local church. This practice is endorsed by 1 Cor 11:29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he does not judge the body rightly. This policy rightly interprets the term body as referring to the church as the body of Christ.

We practice a “Restricted Table” policy. The Table is “open” to true believers who are not members of our local assembly, but “closed” to any who are not members of any local church. The Table is not completely “open” nor completely “closed”, but “restricted”. This policy makes individual salvation and local church membership requisites for admission to the Table.

Our policy recognizes the legitimate place of the individual and calls each one of us to personal responsibility and self-examination before Christ. If you are an unbeliever, we urge you to repent and come to Christ by faith. If you are a true believer who is yet to be baptized, we would urge you to identify with Christ in the waters of baptism. If you are a baptized believer who is yet to join a local church, then we would urge you to find a local body of Christ to which you can commit yourself and in which you can lovingly serve. If you are a member in good standing (that is, not under church discipline) in a Biblically ordered local church, then we invite you to partake with us in this act of corporate worship.

Our policy also recognizes the legitimate place of the church and acknowledges that the observance of the Table is the corporate responsibility of the redeemed community. At the Supper, we engage with Christ individually and privately, but we do so as members of Christ’s body, the church. Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?  Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread. (1 Cor 10:16,17) 

The Supper is a corporate ordinance which demonstrates our union, not only with Christ, but also with one another. Christians are not meant to live isolated lives, but as members one of another. Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it (1 Cor 12:27). Paul’s directive to the church in Corinth, which was observing the Supper in a fragmented, divided manner, is to eat the Supper together as a church. So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another (1 Cor 11:33). He assumes that the Corinthians knew who were, and who were not, members of their church.  Once assembled, they were to eat the Supper together as a church. A “Restricted Table” policy not only views the Supper as an ordinance for our local church, but it also acknowledges the church universal. We believe that the Supper is to be observed by the “local church”, but we recognize the “universal church” and the spiritual unity that we share with all true churches, which together are the collective body of Christ on the earth. The Supper is an opportunity to affirm our unity with brethren who are visiting us from other churches.

Our practice serves to encourage disciples to live under the government of Christ which is expressed in His church. The Biblical pattern given in the Great Commission (Mt 28:18-20) of discipleship, baptism, and church membership is thus promoted (cf. Acts 2:41,42). To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. (Eph 3:21) We hope that this brief explanation has helped you to order your conscience in approaching the Table. If you have any further questions, one of our pastors would be happy to speak with you at your convenience.

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